by Tl Reeve
It wasn’t the same as asking questions. Her honesty, the raw edge of her tone when she said, I get this... Shit, I hung on her every word. I was her sponge, soaking up the knowledge she had within her.
“You have all the time in the world, kid,” I said, pulling away from the house. “You don’t have to worry about it for now.”
“Ever.” She grabbed the tablet Leora gave her while we packed.
At some point, we needed to stop at a mall to grab us some clothes. In our haste and the fact, the house had been on fire, both Haley and I lost everything. But, material things were inconsequential in the long run. We were still together.
“We’re going to have company,” I said. “Kalkin is sending backup.”
Leora nodded. “I figured as much. Do you know who?”
“No.” Just because we had backup, didn’t mean they would announce themselves. Nor would we see them.
“Do you think we should drive through?”
The idea had some merit. It would make it easier to get to our destination and keep PBH off our asses. “We could.”
“Don’t mind me. I can lay on the backseat and sleep when I need to,” Haley said. “Besides, the quicker we get there, the quicker you can start your lives.”
I frowned. Haley’s words stung. “Yeah, sure.”
“All of us can start our lives,” Leora interjected. “Including you, Haley.”
“Whatever,” she grumbled. “Hey, did you notice how your names match another famous story?”
I rolled my eyes. I had noticed. I didn’t want to be corny about it. I think I dealt with this more than most. “Yeah, kid, I did.”
Haley giggled. “I think it’s cute.”
“What is she talking about?” Leora cocked a brow.
“You haven’t noticed.” Haley inched forward, propping her chin on our seat. “Lenore and the raven? Nevermore? Come on... you had to have noticed. His last name is Poe.”
Leora screwed up her face. “Oh, geez. I hadn’t noticed it. Not until you said something.”
“It seems kind of fate-ish don’t you think?” Haley pressed on. “There can’t be very many Leora’s out there like there can’t be many raven shifters named Poe.”
The kid had a point. It did appear to be serendipitous. “Maybe.”
“‘Maybe’? That’s all you’ve got? ‘Maybe’?” Haley chuckled. “Oh, man. Now I know I’m burning my mate when I meet him or her or whatever.”
Leora chuckled. “Sometimes, things happen for a reason. You have to embrace it. Besides, you don’t want to grow up alone, do you? From what I understand, shifters live a long time.”
“I’ve been doing okay on my own. I think I can manage.”
There. Her tone ground against my backbone. She hadn’t been doing okay on her own. She’d been left in a dump of a place and sold to the highest bidder. No way in hell that was okay. No way in hell had she been caring for herself. Yet, instead of telling her such, I kept quiet. No amount of lecturing or showing her the truth would get her to see it. Once the illusion of being in control washed away, she’d need someone more than she thought.
“Where are we going?” Haley asked.
“We’re going to drive for a couple of hours then stop and pick up some clothes. You and I both need them,” I answered. “We’ll grab some lunch, too.”
“Then we’re going to drive as far as we can get,” Leora added. “I want us as close to Window Rock as possible just in case.”
“Bad people,” Haley replied. “What is it about me they want?”
“They want your abilities,” I said, no need in beating around the bush. She was sixteen, not two.
“They can have them.”
I glanced up in the rearview mirror. Her arms were crossed as she stared out the passenger window of the truck. Her long dark hair fell in front of her face, closing her off from me. I hated this part of the job. Each kid saved had a story to tell. Haley’s isn’t much different. Only her ability put her front and center. Pyrokinesis was a rare ability. I think I’d only heard of it one other time, in a human.
It made her more desirable. Add in her being a raven shifter, and it’d been like winning the psychic lottery for the PBH. It’d been what made Jase so valuable to Simon and Hazel. He had latent abilities. They became more pronounced over the years, more specifically after his children, Hayden and Bodhi were reunited with him.
Hazel and Simon wanted to create super soldiers for the PBH. Those who could not only fight hand-to-hand, but also with their abilities. Someone like Haley could destroy a swath of land in no time flat. Even though Haley had a strong will, she would be broken and forced to do whatever PBH wanted, because that’s what they did.
“You say so now,” I said. “But, in a few years, you’ll embrace who you are. I promise.”
“Don’t make promises, Poe,” Haley replied. “We both know, when this is over, you’ll go your way, and I’ll go mine.”
Fucking hell. “Well, the truth is the truth.”
“Your version or mine?”
I gripped the steering tighter until my knuckles turned white. We’d been on the road a couple of hours already and were entering Arkansas. The bridge from West Memphis crossing the state line gave us a pristine view of the Mississippi River in all of its glory. The sun glinted off the lapping waves as they rolled against the banks. A barge floated down the river, pushing containers filled with coal. For a second, I could believe we were a family on a trip. No one was chasing us, and we were having fun.
“We’ll stop once we get to Oklahoma, only a few hours from here.” I had to change the subject, get Haley out of her funk.
“Where are we?”
We crossed the line and hit a rut in the road. “Arkansas. We’ll be in Little Rock soon.”
“Roads suck,” Haley mumbled.
“You can say that again.” I chuckled.
I glanced in my mirror and frowned. Three cars back and in the fast lane, two blacked out vehicles inched forward. I hadn’t seen them there the last time I looked in my mirrors, but something about them set me on edge. I cut my gaze to Leora and noticed she, too, looked in the passenger side mirror.
“Haley, do you still have your seatbelt on?”
“Yeah,” she answered. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Good. I need you to get down and don’t move until I tell you to, okay?” I didn’t want to scare her, and it might be nothing, but what started out as two cars, became four in less than a minute.
“Midnight, you’re scaring me.”
“I don’t mean to, kid. Just do as I say, and you’ll be fine. I promise no one will get you.” I had to get us off the freeway. No way in hell anyone needed to see what was about to happen. I didn’t need the added headache of police and state troopers snooping around us. It would only put Haley more at risk.
Leora reached over the seat and grabbed the black duffle bag she’d placed there before we left. She hefted the bag onto her lap then unzipped it, exposing a sundry of weapons. God, I fucking love this woman. She reached in and grabbed a 9mm while also retrieving a gun for me.
I cut through the traffic making a beeline for the freeway exit coming up. If I timed it perfectly, I be able to lose the tail, forcing them to circle around and giving us time to disappear once more. Unfortunately, things never work out like I want them. A slow-moving vehicle in the right lane barely kept up with the speed of traffic around us, causing me to slow down and allowed whoever followed us to catch up.
I gassed on it, taking the exit ramp at fifty. Ahead of us, our light was red. The flow of cross traffic made it nearly impossible to get through, but I wasn’t stopping. If we got hit, so be it, I couldn’t stop now. It would put everyone in danger. “Hang on. Haley, brace.”
She shrieked. “This is not cool.”
No, it wasn’t. Leora grabbed the ‘oh shit,’ bar in the truck and settled into her seat, burrowing into it as best she could, as I stepped on the accelerator. The cars continued to zip th
rough the intersection, and I braced for impact. Instead, the light turned green, and I went through untouched. I glanced in the rearview and saw all of the chase vehicles still on our ass. We weren’t clear yet. At the next intersection, I turned left. I had to get us away from population. No innocent human could be hurt because of the PBH.
Two of the blacked-out cars blocked us in on the sides, while one rode my ass. If I braked it would send the car into my tail of the truck, which would surely ruin the rear housing and my transmission, disabling us for sure. We were going to have to fight our way out of this, no matter how much I wanted to prevent such. Just a bit farther.
Leora cocked her gun and braced it near the window, away from where the enemy could see it. The soft whimpers from the backseat, tugged at me. I hated the idea of Haley being terrified and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it. “Hang tight, kid. We’ll get through this.”
I stomped on the gas, rocketing us down the road. The vehicles surrounding us didn’t back off. “Ready?” I glanced at Leora, who gave a curt incline of her chin.
“Do it.”
I wrenched the wheel to the right, then to the left, playing pinball with the cars. The crunch of metal hurt my ears. The piercing sounds were like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. The car behind us, bumped us hard, sending us fishtailing across the lanes of traffic. Then the car to the left of us slowed down, getting even with our bumper. I didn’t have time to alert Leora or Haley. I hung onto the wheel. When the bump came, I turned into the slide, hoping by some miracle, I could get us out of it and continue on without being hurt.
The vehicle that hit me, sling shot into the small guardrail, sending pieces of car flying into opposite lanes of traffic. I whipped the wheel back to the right, causing us to rock back and forth, but hold steady. One down, three more to go. I could do this.
The repeat of gunfire followed by the back window of the truck imploding, startled me. I jerked the wheel trying to avoid the bullets. Those rounds that didn’t hit glass struck the body of the truck. It sounded like it was raining bullets with each ting of metal hitting metal. I couldn’t out run them. We’d have to fight. I hit the cars beside us again, then put the truck into a spin, so we were facing the mangled remains of those who chased us.
Traffic had been non-existent, thankfully it kept innocent civilians out of harm’s way. Using the truck as a shield, I got out, and headed for the front. Leora and Haley followed. In the distance, the sound of a high-powered motorcycle approached. It wasn’t slowing down either. If anything, the person seemed to pick up speed. It wove through the mangled remains of the crashed vehicle until the rider laid it over, jumping from the bike. He had two semi-automatic weapons in his hands pointed towards the wreckage of vehicles.
The man, wearing head to toe black, with a black skull-print mask covering his face, opened fire as he ran towards us. Ghost. Somehow, I knew the dare devil belong to Kalkin, and he was our invisible back up. When the man started shooting, so did Leora and I.
A ball of flames engulfed one of the vehicles, and I didn’t know if I should be proud of Haley or pissed the fuck off. The girl could get herself killed out here doing that, yet it was the most confident I’d seen her since picking her up. Focus and determination etched her face as she lobbed balls of fire towards those who’d want to take her. The sedan that had rear ended me exploded, rocketing the car into the air with the force of blast.
Ghost launched himself at Haley, pulling her away from the falling debris seconds before the wreckage landed. Shrapnel from the car littered the ground and the bodies of the would-be kidnappers lay in heaps, dead from the attack. Without Ghost, we would have died. I was certain of it. As much damage as Haley could do, we were out gunned and out manned. Ghost placed Haley against the guardrail. After making sure she was okay, he joined Leora and me.
“Kalkin sends his regards.” He didn’t remove any of the gear covering him. “Says to push through to Window Rock.”
“We’re going to,” Leora said. “You got a ride?”
The guy pointed to the bike laying a few feet from the truck. “Bullet proof, battle ready. It’ll be fine. You’ll have an escort from the border of New Mexico to Window Rock, Arizona.”
“Who?”
The guy shrugged. “Kalkin doesn’t tell me those things. He said you’ll meet them at the weigh station. And you’ll know them.” He turned his attention back to Haley. “That’s one tough kid you got there.”
Haley glanced up, then narrowed her eyes.
“Yeah, I’m beginning to realize she doesn’t do well with instructions,” I said.
Ghost laughed. “Embrace it. She’s useful.”
Yeah. No. Before I could say it, though, he’d grabbed his bike and took off. In the distance, sirens were approaching. We couldn’t stay. Leora got into the driver’s seat while I ushered Haley back into the vehicle. We’d talk about her disobeying an order later. For now, we needed to get the fuck out of here before something else happened. Bad enough we were drawing too much damn attention.
“Rest,” Leora said when I got in. “I’ve got this.”
“We’re not going to get far with the truck banged up like it is.” Not only would we stick out like a sore fucking thumb, I don’t think the tires would hold together much longer either.
“Don’t worry. There is a safe house not far from here.”
“Seriously?”
Leora nodded. “Been through these parts before.”
My phone beeped, and an address popped up on the screen. “Well, speak of the devil.” I turned the screen to her. “Kalkin.”
Leora snorted. “Wonder if he’s got a seer under his employee.”
“I’m not asking.”
“Neither am I.” Leora glanced in the review mirror. “If we can get to the address, we can change out vehicles and get something to eat. Buying clothes and shit might have to wait till we’re in Window Rock.”
I nodded. “Haley, are you okay?” I turned to look at her. Her face was pale. Her eyes were wide and filled with fear, and her hands trembled in her lap. “Looks like you’ve saved my ass twice now, kid.”
She glanced up at me. “They were going to hurt us—you. I didn’t think. I-I know you said not to do anything stupid, but...”
“It’s okay. I understand.” I put her in a horrible position. Ghost, in a way, was right. She had abilities. Ones we could use to help us on our trip. “‘Use’,” being the operative word I hated about the situation. I didn’t want her thinking that’s all she was good for.
“Who was that guy? He’s really... weird.”
“Ghost,” I answered. “He’s one of Kalkin’s men.”
“Oh.”
Leora pulled away from the scene. The engine chugged, and the fan belt squealed, indicating we’d sustained some damage to the engine. The rear of the truck shuddered due to the bashed in bed as she made a U-turn then slowly eased down the road, trying desperately to keep a low profile.
“I’m not sure we’re going to make it.” Leora bit her bottom lip as the steering wheel chattered in her hands.
Neither was I, but I wasn’t about to say anything in front of the kid. “We’ll make it, because we have to.”
Chapter Ten
Midnight
We made it to the safe house.
Barely.
The SUV was choking and sputtering on its last leg as Leora maneuvered it into the driveway of the two-story single-family home. It looked like all the others I’d seen since working the PRA. It blended into the area, and the lawn had been maintained.
Clean.
I hopped out of the truck and darted toward the biometric pad located on the front wall near the garage door. I placed my hand to the screen and waited while it scanned. All of our palms, fingerprints, and retina scans were kept on a database Keeley Raferty designed with the help of Jerome and a few FBI geeks. When engaged, each safe house searched the database.
The screen beeped, and the door began to roll up. In
side the garage, sat the newest vehicle we’d use to get us to Oklahoma for the night, before heading to Window Rock. The truck shuddered with a high-pitched squeal then died. Steam poured from the hood. The smell of burnt oil permeated the air. At least it got us here. Dumping us out on the road in between the incident scene and there could have been a tragic turn of events. I figured by the time we got back on the road, someone would be pulling this junker away from the house to leave no evidence we’d even been here.
I glanced into the backseat passenger window at the kid. Haley had curled herself into a ball. Any attempts I’d made during the short drive to pull her out of her funk, had failed—miserably. Poor kid. Shit just wasn’t going her way.
Every time she’d start to come out of her cocoon, something forced her right back into it. It was starting to piss me off, and although I’d never admit it, it worried me, too. She was young, innocent, and clueless of her strength.
I ripped the back door open to get Haley. Leora, it would seem, had the same idea. She crawled into the back then settled beside Haley.
If Kalkin has sent Ghost, this shit was serious. Ghost was the boogie man of PRA. No one, and I mean no one, knew who the hell the man was behind the skull mask. Some speculated it was none other than Kalkin Raferty. I called bullshit on that theory. Kalkin Raferty was a big-ass motherfucker, and Ghost didn’t have the shoulders or the height the Alpha did nor the bulk. No, whoever he’d been, he couldn’t be Kalkin, or any of the Rafertys for that matter.
Anyway, I didn’t have time for the hows or whys of Ghost showing up. For now, I needed to get Haley out of the truck. We were sitting ducks out here. “We need to get a move on, kid.”
Leora glanced up at me when Haley didn’t move. The same concern I felt, was etched into Leora’s features. My mate was just as concerned and worried about Haley as I was.
My mated nodded then unclicked Haley’s seat belt. I moved quickly, gathering the shaking girl into my arms. I held her close. Shock had settled into her, and she was cold, even though the sun blazed above us. I offered her my warmth and comfort, hoping to ease the trembling. After kicking the truck door closed, I hurried through the garage to the side entry.
